This is a customized guitar, it was made according to our customer's requests, if you don't like the settings of this guitar, and want a personalized body shape, finish, logo, woods or hardware, please email us to place the order.
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Description

Our Custom Made Rory Gallagher Strat Relic for sale

Items

Rory Gallagher Strat Relic for sale

Body Wood

Alder

Neck Wood

Maple

Construction

Bolt-on

Fingerboard

Rosewood

Inlays

Dots Inlays

Scale Length

25.5"

Frets

21

Pickups

S/S/S

Controls

1 Volume 2 Tone, 5-way Switch

Bridge

Vintage Standard Stratocaster Bridge

Finish

3-color Sunburst, (Nitrocellulose Lacquer Finish)

String

D'Addario

Hardware

Chrome Hardware

Rory Gallagher's 1961 Stratocaster

Gallagher was always associated with his well-worn sunburst 1961 Stratocaster, which his brother Donal has officially retired.

It was reputedly the first in Ireland, and was ordered from Fender by Jim Connolly, a showband member performing with The Irish Showband. Connolly ordered a cherry red Stratocaster through Crowley's music shop in Cork in 1961. When Fender shipped a sunburst Stratocaster instead, it was put up on sale in 1963 as a second-hand instrument, which Gallagher bought in August 1963 for just shy of £100 at Crowley's Music Store on Cork's McCurtain Street. Speaking about Gallagher's purchase of the famous Stratocaster his brother Donal recalled: "His dream ambition was to have a guitar like Buddy Holly... This Stratocaster was in the store as a used instrument, it was 100 pounds... in today's money you couldn't even compare you might as well say it was a million pounds... my mother was saying we'll be in debt for the rest of our lives and Rory said well actually with a guitar like this I can play both parts, rhythm and lead, we won't need a rhythm player so I can earn more money and pay it off so the Stratocaster became his partner for life if you like."

The guitar was extensively modified by Gallagher. The tuning pegs are odd (5 Sperzel pegs and one Gotoh), and all of these have been found to be replacements. Second, it is thought that the nut has been replaced and interchanged a number of times. Third, the scratchplate was changed during Gallagher's time with Taste. The pick-ups —none of which are original— were also changed. The final modification was that of the wiring: Gallagher disconnected the bottom tone pot and rewired it so he had just a master tone control along with the master volume control. He also installed a 5-way selector switch in place of the vintage 3-way one.

The most notable effect that the years of touring have had on the guitar is the almost complete removal of its original sunburst finish. Although the Strat was left abandoned in a rainy ditch for days after being stolen from the back of a tour van in Dublin, this is not believed to have caused any ill effect. All of the wear was caused by Rory's playing, not misuse. A borrowed Telecaster was also stolen at the same time but never recovered. When the Strat was recovered after two weeks, Gallagher swore he would never sell it or paint it after that.

It also had a period of time of having a replacement neck, with the original neck bowing due to the amount of moisture it absorbed during continuous touring. The neck was taken off and left to settle, and was eventually reunited with the Strat after returning to its correct shape. Other quirks include a 'hump' in the scratch plate which moves the neck pick-up closer to the neck on the bass side, and a replacement of all of the pick-ups, though this replacement was due to damage rather than the perception of a tonal inadequacy.One final point of interest is that one of the clay double-dot inlays at the 12th fret fell out and was replaced with a plastic one, which is why it's whiter than the other clay inlays.

In 1997, Fender Custom Shop designers met Donal Gallagher in Los Angeles and received one of the most coveted guitars of all time - Gallagher’s heavily worn 1961 Stratocaster guitar. Fender initially built 40 replicas for European sale, but was subsequently besieged with requests for more.

The Rory Gallagher Tribute Stratocaster guitar is an exact replica of that revered instrument, down to the extremely worn Three-color Sunburst alder body, maple neck and rosewood fingerboard. It even has five Sperzel tuners and one Gotoh tuner, and the 12th-fret dot marker is white plastic rather than the original clay. It also features three custom-wound ’60s single-coil pickups, aged chrome hardware, 21 jumbo frets and a bone nut.

Our Replicated Rory Gallagher Strat Relic for sale

In the past years, many of our customers also talked about the guitars with us, and hope we can make replicas of it. So to realize their dreams, we launched the Rory Gallagher Stratocaster Relic guitars. Our replicated relic guitars are made with-worn spots, nicks, scratches, rusty hardware, and aged plastic parts and so on, all these features are very detail exactly with the original relic guitar.

All guitars in our custom shop are created by the craftsmen who are famous worldwide. Besides, we also have some professional tuners who are specially responsible for testing and tuning guitars's tone. Every guitar before shipping, we repeately test and tune to make sure it is nearest to the original one in tone. So you can be assured about the quality...

If you are looking for a guitar like this now, don't pass it by...

More info about our replicated Rory Gallagher Strat Relic for sale

Like the originals, our replicated Rory Gallagher Strat Relic for sale is treated with the Heavy Relic treatment. This means the guitar is finished to resemble an instrument that has enjoyed a long life of heavy use. This includes significant wear and tear to the finish, dings to the body, neck, and headstock, and aged hardware. The end result is an instrument that looks like it's been around for a while and plays like a well broken-in instrument.

Our Rory Gallagher Strat Relic for sale's selected alder body shows almost no sunburst finish left on it, just like Rory's, which captures all of the irregularities that helped make his guitar so unique.

Just like Rory's guitar, our replica also features a 25.5 inch scale length maple neck, dot inlays, 1.650" nut and rosewood fretboard. Rosewood gives the guitar a slightly darker tone than that of maple. The neck's profile is the early "C" Shape with the finish worn off which is considered by many to be the faster and easiest neck profile. It has a nitrocellulose lacquer finish which was used at the time.

All our replicated Rory Gallagher Strat Relic for sale is painted with nitrocellulose lacquer like the originals. The nitrocellulose lacquer finish, which is thinner than modern polyurethane finishes, will allow this alder body to sing loud and clear.

Our replicated Rory Gallagher Strat Relic for sale is simply phenomenal! With a great sound! Very well built and sounds like a rock guitar should. It cuts through very well and plays very fast. Very NICE!

Of course, about relic effect, every people have his own idea. our relic is surely not the best. But you can send us your present pictures, and also can send us your idea, we can specially make it for you according to your requirements. As we are a custom shop, our aim is to give you everything you need to make a personalizing custom guitar

About Nitrocellulose lacquer

When talking about lacquer used in the guitars making, there are mainly two kinds, including polyurethane lacquer and nitrocellulose lacquer. But the most special is nitrocellulose lacquer. Nitrocellulose lacquer has more advantages than Polyurethane lacquer, like quick-drying, tough film, abrasion, high chemicas and water resistance. Regardless of past, present or future, only high-quality, expensive guitars use this kind of lacquer.

Therefore, we pay great attention to painting when making our Rory Gallagher Stratocaster Guitars. Just as the original guitar, the Nitrocellulose lacquer finish is applied, sanded, and buffed by hand; namely, more care is put into the finishing process. This extra care is intended to make the guitars look like gently aged and well-cared-for vintage guitars. Nitrocellulose lacquer helps the guitars 'breathe' better and won't affect the guitar's shock, therefore to resonate and sustain more freely, making them much better instruments.

But, as we all know, when using, Nitrocellulose lacquer needs painting and sanding repeatedly, for more than dozens of times. This process often do great harm to painters. But polyurethane lacquer just needs painting and sanding for just few times. Therefore, guitars painted with Nitrocellulose lacquer will be higher than other guitars, pls understand!!!

About Pickups

It is worth mentioning that the pickups we select are Wilkinson pickups. We have to admit that Wilkinson pickups are not as good as the original pickups. But they are more attractive in quality and price, saving much money for our customers. Most of our customers reflected the pickups are beyond their imagination, stable and reliable enough!

Of course! If you insist on the original pickups, and we can find them on the market, and can afford it. We are pleasant to install the original pickups for your guitars. But the price will be much higher than guitars with Willinson pickups. Be prepared!!!

Rory's biographer --- Marcus Connaughton

As Rory's biographer, Marcus Connaughton believes the Strat was the key to Rory's sound. In Marcus' opinion, Rory could talk about his strat all night. ‘It's dated November 1961 – in certain people's opinions this is when Fender hit their peak. I like the maple neck. Like on the earlier guitars, they’re probably a bit more crisp, but there's a warmth to this, a mellowness because of the rosewood neck. This is the best, it's my life, this is my best friend. It's almost like knowing its weak spots are strong spots. I don’t like to get sentimental about these things, but when you spend thirty years of your life with the same instrument it's like a walking memory bank of your life there in your arm.'

Joe Bonamassa on playing Rory Gallagher's 1961 Strat

On Friday the 21st and Saturday 22 October 2011, Rory's brother Donal brought the guitar out of retirement to allow Joe Bonamassa to perform with it on his two nights at the London Hammersmith Apollo. Joe opened both night's performances with his rendition of "Cradle Rock" using Rory's Stratocaster.

According to Joe Bonamassa, the thought of being in the same room with Gallagher's Strat, much less holding it, was overwhelming. "My head was head was rushing," he says. "Rory played a bunch of guitars in his time, but the '61 is the guitar. There is no other. When it came out of the gig bag, I was floored. There I was, looking at a piece of history."

"I got to spend a couple of hours with it before I went on stage. I changed the strings – probably the second time the strings have been changed since Rory died – plugged it in and started to play."

Bonamassa says that his body chemistry changed profoundly within seconds of playing the Strat. "Immediately I was in 'Rory mode,'" he states. "The pinch harmonics, the feel of the neck...there was big 'Wow!' factor. The thing is, this was a great guitar. If it belonged to Jerry Abrams from Peoria, Illinois, it'd still be a fantastic Strat. But it was Rory's guitar. The contours, the heel, the fretboard…you could really feel that he'd played it and made it his own."

Bonamassa performed with the Strat for his three opening numbers - a version of Gallagher's Cradle Rock, the original tune When The Fire Hits The Sea and a blazing take on Gary Moore's Midnight Blues. "I could've played the Strat all night, but I had to switch to a Les Paul for my other songs," he says. "And then Bernie Marsden came by to sit in with me. Unreal! He brought the '59 Les Paul that he wrote Here I Go Again on. It was like a guitar collector's dream on stage."

Fender Relic Guitars Wall

Here you can see some other Fender Relic Guitars. If you are a fan of them, you can customize any one here in our custom shop. It is our pleasure to realize your guitar dream.

Like any kinds of custom guitars, who knows what kind of relic guitars you prefer to? Absoultely only you!

It’s your individual tastes and imagination, any kinds of relic styles, heavy relic, slight relic, or any others, they are all up to you. Making a Relic Guitar can be as simple as making small changes to one of our existing models, also can be as complex as creating a complete new design that exists only in your vision. With access to the world’s most respected and experienced luthiers, our custom shop can literally turn your dreams into reality.

As a professional guitar custom shop, our aim is to try our best to make a personalizing custom guitar for you. You can send us your present pictures, also can tell us your ideals or anything others, we will make it for you!

Our Relic Custom Service

Our relic department has just set up, and these relic products were made for display in a hurry. Many details of them may be not perfect yet, so welcome your criticism on them at any time. Besides, some details are limited by time, instead of our ability. To show our sincerity, when placing orders on relic guitars, all customers can just pay a small part of deposit (even just $10 is ok). Then We can carefully make it according to your requests, repeatly check with you about details, modify and make progress...until meet your satisfaction. Don't be afraid to bring us troubles. Our customer service staff and other workers are pleasant to exchange with our customers, as they can learn new knowledge and get some exercise from the process.

Besides, to make the best Relic Guitars for you, we specially employ some professional craftsmen to be responaible for this part. All these craftsmen have been engaged in this field for most of their lives and are talented and experienced in the field of musical instruments. So you can trust our guitars' quality.

If you don’t like the guitar above and you want a guitar dreamed for so long,what to do? It’s so easy,please send the picture and the parameters of the guitar you want.We only need Pics and specs, and we can make the guitar same with your original guitar. You wonder learn Why? Pls click here to find the answer. Send your dream guitar pics and specs to us, let us make it come true together.

All the guitars we built are based on our customers’ requests. There are so many different options for you to choose if you don’t want a standard one, you can check our custom shop for the details. The best way to go about obtaining this information for you is to contact us and let us know what you’re looking for. We can discuss these options and figure out what is the best for you. Your business is important to us and we want to provide you with the best customer service we are capable of. We want this to be the best guitar-buying experience you’ve ever had.

Notice For All Buyers:

Thank you for your attention. Here are something you might want to know about this guitar.

1. This guitar is available in both right handed and left handed version. Even it is not showing in lefty version, we still able to customize this guitar in left handed for you. You just have to tell us when you place the order.

2. If you want to place the order, just send us email, we will help you to place your customize order.

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